A Hobbit's Disenchanted Soul
by EmeraldDragonessLizzy
Summary: Bilbo was always grateful for the Baggins' reputation as a respectable hobbit family. Because of it, others were less inclined to fuss about him never removing his hat. He was cautious around others, more so than other hobbits. You see, Bilbo Baggins had a secret, one that he could never reveal.
1. Birth of the Soul

Bilbo was always grateful for the Baggins' reputation as a respectable hobbit family. Because of it, others were less inclined to fuss about him never removing his hat. He was cautious around others, more so than other hobbits. You see, Bilbo Baggins had a secret, one that he could never reveal.

 _Bungo and Belladonna Baggins were very glad they had not enlisted the help of any other hobbits for the birth of their child. They were also thankful that Belladonna had a wizard for a friend. Being both an istari and a loyal friend, the wizard assisted with the birth, making it much easier than it could have been, had they no outside help._

 _When the wizard brought them their now-clean newborn, Belladonna took the baby in her arms. "He will be Bilbo Baggins." she said. Having named their child, the proud new parents loosened the cloth swaddling the tiny hobbit so they could look at his face. Like all new parents, they decided things like 'he has your eyes,' or 'he has my nose,' and 'he has your father's chin.' He had small rabbit ears and a little tail._

 _"I will speak with Radagast the Brown about crafting a magical item to conceal Bilbo's features," said the wizard "but I cannot predict when it will be finished."_

 _"The tail will be easy enough to hide, but the most we can do for his ears is let his hair grow long and have him wear a hat over them." said Bungo. Little did the hobbits know that they wouldn't see Gandalf for many years, by which time the matter would have entirely slipped from his mind._

 _The parents succeeded in keeping Bilbo's rabbit features secret from the other hobbits until one day when he asked Belladonna "Momma, why do I always have to hide my ears and tail from others? Why don't I have a name on my wrist?" hobbits, like elves and dwarves, had soulmates. The name of a hobbit's mate was written on their wrist, legible only to the hobbits, and their mates – if their mate was of another race. "Is there something wrong with me?"_

 _Deciding Bilbo was old enough to understand, Belladonna pulled him to sit between Bungo and herself. "Bilbo, there is nothing, wrong with you. Never, ever think that about yourself. You are perfect the way you are."_

 _"Your differences from others do not make you any less of a hobbit, or any less our son. But if the other hobbits saw your ears or tail, they may try to hurt you, or even take you away from us." explained Bungo. Running his hand through Bilbo's curly hair and along his ears, he continued. "Never doubt our love for you, Bilbo."_

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	2. Fateful Meetings

_Not a year later, the Fell Winter came, and with it, many hobbit deaths. Bilbo was just 21 years old. Being cautious hobbits, the Baggins family began to eat only three meals a day. Neither spring nor help came until April, making it the longest winter in the history of the Shire._

 _Many hobbits perished that winter. The harsh cold trapped many in their homes, facing starvation. Those who did not return from their search for food either froze or fell to orcs. Bilbo's parents included. Bilbo's Father had once again ventured from Bag-End for food, when he was attacked. Only because of his dear Belladonna did he survive. But in saving her husband's life, Belladonna lost her own. Bungo soon fell ill, and while his injuries healed, he never truly recovered._

 _The day Bilbo came of age, markings appeared his wrist. This in itself was not unusual, for when they came of age, young hobbits would gain a name on their wrist, the name of their soulmate. But Bilbo was unable to read the strange runes inscribed on his skin, and became sullen in his despair. Yet he endured, for his father's sake. The elder hobbit had begun to fade after the death of his beloved, dying just three years later._

 _After his father died, Bilbo fell into a deep depression. Only the memory of his parents and their love for him prevented him from taking his own life. A few years later, he gained magic._

All hobbits had a tiny bit of natural magic, it was why they were so prosperous and a good part of why they lived in holes. But it was just _there_ , deep in their souls, not enough to really be called magic. Even the most powerful istari couldn't sense it.

But Bilbo had a much greater amount of this natural magic. He managed to create band to simultaneously cover the runes on his wrist where it laid and to both hide and suppress his magic should he become emotional and lose control.

One day, as he sat on his bench near the front gate of Bag-End, blowing rings of smoke with his pipe, a tall figure stopped in front of him. _'An istari.'_ he thought. The wizard's magic made him nervous, and his instincts flared up. When the figure just stood there expectantly, preventing smaller figure from escaping. Waiting for his cuff to suppress his instincts before sighing internally, Bilbo said "Good Morning."

But the wizard just stared at the hobbit from under his bushy eyebrows before speaking. "What do you mean? Are you wishing me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

Bilbo wanted to snap at the wizard or run away, but instead put on his 'innocently confused' expression. "All of them at once I suppose." he replied.

"To think I would live to be good morning-ed by Belladonna Took's son." The grey wizard huffed.

Bilbo barely avoided wincing when his wrist cuff burned, reigning in his power, and quelling his instincts. "Gandalf? Gandalf the Grey? My mother told me stories of your adventures together!" he said.

"Yes, I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me." replied the tall man, chuckling. All of a sudden, a strong breeze blew Bilbo's hat off, and he scrambled to return it to his head. "Bilbo." he called as the hobbit began to panic, curling in on himself. "Bilbo. Calm yourself. I already knew. I helped your mother when she gave birth to you."

When the hobbit didn't respond and began shaking, Gandalf unlatched the gate and approached him. Crouching carefully, he gathered the hobbit in his arms. Bending down to avoid the doorframe, he entered the hobbit-hole and laid Bilbo on a couch in the den. Gandalf removed both of their hats and combed his long fingers through the hobbit's hair, smoothing the fluffy fur on the long ears.

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	3. Revelations

Bilbo awoke, no longer upset or panicking, and twitched his ears. Seeing the room empty, he turned onto his stomach. He reached back and ran one of his sharp nails along part of the seam on the back of his pants. He relaxed as his tail was freed from its confines. Hearing footsteps, Bilbo quickly checked his left wrist. _'Good.'_ he thought as he felt the cuff under his jacket sleeve. _'It's still there.'_

"Bilbo my friend, how would you like to go on an adventure?" Gandalf asked, smiling broadly.

Bilbo bit his lip before answering. "Would I be able to run, discretely?"

The wizard tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Bilbo sighed quietly, before rising from the couch. Taking a reassuring breath, he closed his eyes and shifted. Opening his eyes, he caught the dumbfounded look on the face of his mother's old friend. When the man started to open his mouth to speak, Bilbo explained. "I've been able to do this since I came of age. For the three years until my father died, I would transform and keep him company at night."

Not knowing what to say, the istari just closed his mouth and looked at the large rabbit in front of him. The rabbit's fur was the same golden brown as his hair, and the same brown eyes. Sitting on his hind legs, Bilbo was the same height as before, making him very large for a rabbit.

Giving the rabbit a smile, Gandalf asked if he could examine him more closely. At his nod, he beckoned Bilbo closer. The wizard's eye caught on a dark band amongst the fur of the rabbit's left wrist. His tone commanding attention, he said,"Bilbo."

Gandalf's sudden seriousness made the other stiffen. "What is this?" he asked, holding Bilbo with both hands.

"N-nothing, it's nothing." He replied, very nervous.

"Then it won't do any harm for you to take it off, will it?" The wizard prompted.

Bilbo's eyes widened and he started to shake slightly before he shifted back to his hobbit form. "No, th-there's no reason to do that." But Gandalf had a firm grip on the cuff, and it slipped off his wrist as he tried to get away. "No!" the hobbit shouted, but it was too late. His powers been freed and the markings on his wrist revealed. Both he and Gandalf gasped as his magic flooded to the surface.

"When did this happen?" questioned the tall istari, meaning both the markings and the magic.

Bilbo looked away. "The runes appeared the day I came of age. The magic, a few years after my father died. I created the cuff to conceal both." he said nearly sobbing.

"Bilbo. I'd ask you not to wear this, but we both know you wouldn't listen. As for the markings on your wrist, while I cannot read them, I do recognize them. But I'm not going to tell you what it is." At this the hobbit pouted and Gandalf chuckled. "Moving on. The adventure I have invited you on is long, and I cannot guarantee your safety. We would be traveling with thirteen dwarves. Their quest is to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the Terrible." He paused to let the other take everything in.

Suddenly, Bilbo scowled. "Erebor? You want me to help a group of thirteen dwarves take back Erebor? From a dragon?!"

Clever as always the wizard replied. "You'll no doubt encounter many of the other races."

 _'Meaning other languages. 'Shit. Sly bastard.'_ Bilbo thought as he glared at the other.

Knowing he'd won, Gandalf rose from the couch. "Well then. Would you like some assistance with dinner?"

"Gandalf. Gandalf, what did you do?"

"I may have directed the dwarves towards your home. They should be here in, oh, maybe an hour."

Bilbo brought his hand to his face. "Yavanna help me. Yes Gandalf, I could use your assistance. Go to the market and buy plenty of ale, cheese and flour. I'm going hunting. Stupid wizard." he ordered the man, muttering the last part.

Not twenty minutes later, Bilbo returned, dragging a decent-sized buck. Gandalf startled as the hobbit hefted the animal onto the kitchen table. Seeing the wizard's raised eyebrow, he explained. "My rabbit side is mainly carnivorous, thus, I eat a substantially greater amount of meat than other hobbits."

Amazed and no little bit impressed by the hobbit's catch, Gandalf spoke. "I have yet to encounter any carnivorous species of rabbit in all my travels. And Rhosgobel rabbits, while larger than average rabbits, are not as large as you, and do not eat meat."

Bilbo just hmm'ed in reply as he began to prepare the meat.


	4. Defying Expectations

I do not the Hobbit or any of its characters.

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An hour later, after Gandalf had left to check on the dwarves' progress, the doorbell rang. Bilbo's ears perked up at the sound, reminding him to replace his cuff and hat. After racing to secure both onto himself, he opened the door, admitting a burly dwarf.

"Dwalin, at your service." the dwarf said, bowing slightly.

"Bilbo Baggins." he replied, nodding slightly in return. "The dining room is just over there, but please wait for the rest of your group to arrive before eating." The dwarf looked miffed, but complied, standing awkwardly just inside the dining room. Not having set the table, Bilbo gestured to a stack of plates, saying "If you'd be kind enough to assist me, you can set out those plates, 16 of them, please." While the dwarf began to place the dishes on the table, Bilbo brought the sturdy table from his pantry in, pushing it up against the first. Noticing Dwalin was finished with the plates, he pointed to a box in the corner. "One of each by a plate, please, including napkins." The dwarf moved to do so with a grunt.

Leaving the dwarf to his task, Bilbo went to his kitchen. Taking a moment to calm himself, he picked up the large platter of sliced venison and carried it in to the dining room. As he set it down, there was another knock on the door. He opened the door, admitting an elderly dwarf.

"Balin, at your service." The dwarf said while bowing politely.

"Bilbo Baggins." the hobbit replied, nodding his head slightly. The two dwarves greeted each other by hitting their heads together with a sound that hurt Bilbo's sensitive ears, making him wince. "Master Balin, if could you please help me bring the rest of the food to the dining room." he requested as he lead the way through the dining room into kitchen. "And we are waiting for the rest of your company to arrive to start eating." he admonished when he saw the dwarf eye the food hungrily.

The doorbell rang once again, and Bilbo decided he'd just stay by the door. Opening it, two younger dwarves, 'Probably siblings' stepped inside.

"Fili," the one with darker hair started.

"And Kili," the other continued.

"At your service." they finished together.

"You must be Mr. Boggins."

"Bilbo Baggins. Now if you'll put your weapons on this table here, go help Master Balin with the food. But don't eat any!" he added as they went to find the elder dwarf. A couple minutes later, he heard a knock, and when he opened the door, several dwarves collapsed in the entryway, Gandalf standing behind them. "Did you really need to do that?" Bilbo asked, having seen the discrete shove.

"Yes." the wizard replied, laughing.

After the newcomers had introduced themselves, Bilbo spoke. "I only counted 12, so your leader must be missing."

"Ah, yes. He should be joining us shortly." said Gandalf.

Bilbo raised an eyebrow but led the group into the dining room. He snickered quietly at their amazement when they learned he had done everything except set the table. The other table was pretty heavy.

"Sit." he told them, and Kili and Fili sat near the head, leaving the chair unoccupied. Standing behind the empty chair he began passing the food, quietly filling a plate for the missing guest. A little later, he noticed some of his daggers being used, and asked that they not be blunted. This made them laugh and sing a lively song about breaking dishes and other such things. By the end of the song, everything had been cleaned and neatly put away. Then three loud knocks were heard. All of the dwarves quieted and stood from their seats Bilbo opened the door, and a handsome dwarf stepped inside.

The newcomer looked Bilbo up and down, and Bilbo's rabbit cower slightly. "So, this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?" he said with clear disdain. "Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?" Now, Bilbo's rabbit side was quite a bit more aggressive than normal rabbits, and the dwarf's obvious dislike made him bristle angrily. "Yes. Bilbo Baggins, and I might've been at your service before you insulted me. But not now. And to answer your questions, yes, I have done quite a bit of fighting, but you'll have to figure out my weapon of choice on your own." Bilbo glared at the dwarf, but turned away after establishing that he wasn't going to be intimidated. "There is a plate for you in the dining room."

The rest of dinner was spent waiting for him to finish. Most of the company sat silently except for Thorin, as he'd learned the dwarf was called, who spoke quietly to Kili and Fili who sat near him. Gandalf relaxed into a chair in the corner, while Bilbo rested against the wall beside him, eyes closed. Then, finally, the regal dwarf finished eating. Hearing the thud of metal utensils on a wooden table he moved off the wall. "Just leave it. I'll get it later. I'm sure there's a contract, so if we could move to the den…"

"This is very detailed." Bilbo observed. He snorted quietly. 'You'd think it could be assumed that dealing with a dragon could be dangerous and potentially deadly. But no, apparently, the most gruesome way to die needed to be spelled out.' He retrieved his quill and caused the three youngest dwarves to freak out by pricking his finger rather deeply with it. Bilbo signed the contract in blood, puzzling everyone except Gandalf in doing so.

Having sent everyone else to bed, he led Thorin to the master bedroom. "You can sleep here for the night. Please give me your clothes so I can wash them. Underclothes too. Just place them outside the door when you're done." he closed the door and a couple minutes later, the clothes were dropped just outside of it. After he finished with the clothes and hung them to dry, Bilbo shifted to his rabbit form. He took a run through the woods surrounding the Shire, scouting for danger as was his usual routine, before curling up in front of the fireplace when he returned to Bag-End.

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	5. Hostile Beings

I do not own the Hobbit or any of its characters.

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Bilbo was up before dawn. He figured the company would want to leave at first light, so he needed to be up before then. First he returned the clothes to their respective owners' rooms. Then he packed his warmest set of clothes and a few other necessary supplies, and put on his cloak. Running his hand through his hair, he sighed before donning his wide-brimmed hat.

As Gandalf came into the hallway, dressed and ready to go, Bilbo spoke. "There'll be ponies, won't there, Gandalf?

The wizard nodded. "Indeed. Why do you ask," the wizard inquired. "will that be a problem?"

"It's quite likely my presence will spook the ponies. I have a very contradictory nature, Gandalf, being a carnivorous rabbit. The ponies in the shire are just familiar with me." the hobbit confessed.

He was soon forced onto a pony, regardless of his concerns.

A couple of days later, the company came across an abandoned house. Bilbo could smell the mountain trolls, but how was he to tell the dwarves? It's not like Thorin would believe him, even if he could come up with a reasonable explanation. So here he was, trying to free their missing ponies. He knew the trolls would definitely smell him if he transformed, so he attempted to steal one's knife. Suddenly, he was picked up by the troll and blown into like a handkerchief.

"What the 'ell is that?" said one of the trolls.

The one holding him sniffed him, saying "It smells like a rabbit, but it don't look like one."

"Whatever." said the third. "Just toss him in the pot."

Bilbo started to panic, but then Kili came out of the trees. "Let him go!" he heard him say. The troll holding him snorted and threw him towards Kili. Unfortunately, the rest of the dwarves had come up shortly after Kili, so when Bilbo collided with him, all of them were pushed to the ground. This gave the trolls time to bag most of them and tie a few to the spit over the fire.

One of the trolls was getting impatient, and picked up Gloin. "I can't wait any longer, I'm starving. We should just eat 'em whole."

Thinking quickly, Bilbo jumped to his feet as well as he could in his bag. "Wait! You don't want to eat them!"

"Sure we do." said the one who currently held the dwarf.

"No you don't." Bilbo insisted. "Yeah he's got worms in his...tubes."

The troll made a face. "Ooh."

Behind him, Bilbo heard some of the dwarves denying, insulted. Thankfully, it only took Thorin kicking the nearest dwarf for them to get the idea.

"Yeah! I have huge parasites!"

"I've got worms in my tubes!"

"And I'm filled with worms!"

The trolls looked disgusted. Well, as much as a troll could.

The dwarves' shouting distracted the trolls long enough for Gandalf to return. He struck his staff upon the rock, splitting it while shouting "May the dawn take you!" The trolls turned to stone as soon as the sunlight hit them.

Now that the trolls themselves did not stink, Bilbo noticed the stench that could only be their lair. "I think their cave is there." he told the dwarves, pointing towards a boulder a short distance away. As they reached the rock, he braced his shoulder against it and said "I can't move this by myself, you know." The dwarves hurried to help him. Inside were gold and several legendary Elven blades, including a short-sword that would act as a proper weapon for Bilbo.

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 **IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ**

Regarding my works: "Firenze Heard a Sound", "A Hobbit's Disenchanted Soul", "The Small Tortoise"

I wanted to let all of my readers know that I will be moving my 3 stories to another account very soon.

The username of the account I am moving the stories to is: LizzyDragonMaster

I will also be editing/revising "Firenze Heard a Sound", so I will leave this version here under EmeraldDragonessLizzy until I am done working on editing/revising it. At that point I will post the new version on the LizzyDragonMaster account. I will then update this chapter to include the location of the new and improved version. This version will remain on this account for ONE week, at which point I will remove this version.

If anyone has any questions for me, please send me a PM and I will do my best to reply in a timely manner.


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